QUEEN RANIA CONDEMNS NON-ISLAMIC 'HONOUR KILLINGS'
By Randa Habib - AMMAN

Jordanian queen will chair new council aimed at changing common male perceptions about women.

September 30, 2003 – (Middle East Online) Jordan's Queen Rania on Tuesday condemned the practice of "honour killings" as a crime against Islam and said she will chair a new council aimed at changing common male perceptions about women.

"This practice of 'honor killing' is a form of murder without trial, which is contrary to Islam," the queen said shortly before leaving for Paris with her husband King Abdullah II.

Since January, 12 women have been killed by their kin in Jordan for having "sullied the reputation of their family" by their perceived or actual immoral behaviour, according to local media.

The problem has particular resonance in Britain, where a strict Kurdish Muslim who fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq as a refugee 10 years ago was sentenced to life imprisonment Monday for the brutal murder of his 16-year-old daughter.

The girl had apparently been dating an 18-year-old Lebanese Christian man.

Queen Rania has even backed a bill imposing heavier sentences on those guilty of such crimes, but it was rejected by Jordan's parliament.

"I hope the parliament will eventually vote for laws in keeping with Jordan's reputation as a humane nation which respects the human rights of all of its citizens," she said.

"We should have no tolerance for the acceptance of 'honor killings.' There is certainly no justification for such a practice in Islam," said the queen, the youngest in the world, at age 33.

She said the practice could only really be combatted through a combination of education and harsher penalties for offenders, which would act to reinforce the position of women in Muslim societies.

"We must combat such a phenomenon in many different ways. We have to change some cultural and societal perceptions of the place and value of women in society," said the queen, who heads the Arab Women's Summit.

"We are committed to a multi-faceted approach to changing minds, changing hearts and changing laws which limit women's potential or their worth and status in our society. We are making progress."

She said Jordan would establish a "media watch" advisory council to monitor the media and provide feedback to add impetus to efforts to change the perceptions and stereotypes limiting the potential of women.

"This project will create a strategic alliance with regional media outlets and opinion makers to undertake programming encouraging women's full participation in public life." she said.

And the queen said the Arab Women's Summit could also play a vital role in encouraging cross cultural dialogue.

"For example, next month we are sponsoring a forum to bring together Arab and Western women with the aim of opening channels of communication and friendship," she said.

Her place as a board member of the World Economic Forum also provides an opportunity for her to put women's issues and concerns on the world's stage.

Queen Rania voiced concern about reports emanating from Iraq on the plight of women there since the removal of Saddam Hussein in the US-led war more than five months ago.

"I am very alarmed, for example, by reports such as those from Human Rights Watch, which have documented that many Iraqi women are virtually
'imprisoned' in their own homes due to fear of violence, intimidation, and abduction.

"It is vital that security throughout Iraq be re-established as a first priority so that all Iraqis, and especially women, feel safe enough to work, attend school and undertake their daily activities," she said.

From: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/Default.pl?id=7207